Description
The South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center, originally the South Terrace Area Neighborhood Center, was founded in 1966. In 1967, the Neighborhood Center was accepted as an United Way Fund Agency. From its founding until 1980, the Center provided youth and adult recreational life skills programming to the residents of the South Terrace Public Housing Development.
In November 1993, the Center adopted the Welcome Place, an outreach program for children living in the southwest portion of the city, founded in 1991 by the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. Housed in and supported by the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, it is a prototype for a cooperative effort with Fritz Memorial United Methodist Church which began in the fall of 1998. Additionally, the Center does a variety of programs in its original location, now called the Lynfield Housing Development. This program is supported through a grant from the Bethlehem Housing Authority.
As a reflection of its reaching out to and service the whole south side community, the Center officially became the South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center in May, 1994.
Operating with a staff of six full time and several part time employees as well as many volunteers, the South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center provides a variety of services to the people of Bethlehem's south side from Salisbury Township to Hellertown. Housing and employment services are available to income-eligible people from throughout the Bethlehem area.
